The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-11-04
AS HE HAD LIVED.
THE GRAND WIND-UP OF q
MIGHTY HUNTER.
The 6r-at Spirit Gave Him Life and the
Great Spirit Took II Away"

THE Great Spirit Gave Him Life and the
Great Spirit Took II Away"
Day has finally broken, and there is a
reddCning of the eastern sky. The faint
fiusheS deepen, the purple fades To- gold,
the gold turns to fire and the topmOst
rim OF the snn rises from the plain and
Furnishes the crJgs am, ia pt:c.ts of the
Powder River Mountains a. If preparing
them ior temples OF worship.
Five minutes later and a great CONT
ncnt i bramcd upon by the full sun of a
glorious morning III Indian summer
1ou have seen a grand old horse-al-
most blind-almost ready TO die from old
age, rise from his grassy bed OF a sum
mer morning? The morn seemed 10 put
new life into him. There is fire in his
ewes as he filings his head about and
shifts at the sunshine, and for the mo-
ment he is Young and strong again.
SO on this morn, from his camp in the
foothills, rises grand old man, and rs
he draws himself up TO his full height
and faces the glorious east, his eyes grow
bright, his muscles quivcr, and the
strength comes back To every limb But
II is not for long. The sun is scarcely a
foot above the plain when the tall form
stops, the limbs begin to weaken, and
placed by 4 dull stare.
1t is the wreck OF 4 mana mighty
hunter and fighter. These plains and
mountains and valleys have been his
home Tor a score of years. Facc-ChcSt-
limbs everywhere about him, arr scars
of wounds dealt 10y savage or beast. The
going down of the sun has found him
alone; the dawn of day has found him
solitary. Break mans heart and he
turns from the world and hates vice. and
virtue alike.
He is old and his strength has vaned.
Death has been long in coming, but il has
drawn night at last. The chill of death
drives some men back To the world, to
die with tender hands about them.
Others defy the grim monster to the last,
and they die alone, unwept, uncarcd for.
1T il my last day on earth!'' SO saws
the grand old man a. he slowly turns on
his heel To look about him. The vision
that could once discern moving buffalo
half 4 score of miles away can now
scarcely make out the ragged trees across
the little valley. The arms which could
have once lifted the most powerful
warrior high IN air Tor I dash To- death
can now scarcely bring the rife 10 an
aim. He has run his race and his time
has come.
The sun climbs up and up, and the day
NulNbS ieTlI lillD lull HLFtnEth. ne
mountains stand out with sucn rugged
ness and grandncsC a. never before. The
valleys and hillsidcs never held the sun
shine rs today. Nature is to give the
old man a grand funeral.
And the sun climbs higher, and il is
midday.
And how should he die-one whose
summers and winters whose months
and years have been passed in the sun
shine OF the sterile plains-in the shad-
Ows of the rugged mOuntains-with the
growl OF the grizzly and the shout of the
red warrior in his ears , In the dramas of
the stage men die as they have lived;
why not in real life?
The Old man l. ready Rifle in hand
his grizzly locks half hidden by his fur
cap-his strength coming back as If he
had been born again, hc seats himself
upon great rock and scans the winding
valley at his feet. God gives him back
his sight once more, and no creeping
thing escapes his vision. To the right all
Is well. To the left-wait He half rises
for a better look.
Enemies
Have they got the word that to-day is
the old mans last day on earth, and are
they to sit in front and applaud as the
curtain goes down? 1t il well. That
long rifle has sent more than one warrior
rapidly wasting, bears the scar of bullet
and tomahawk and knife
a dozen warriors-a war party bent on
rapine and murtler-come galloping
swiftly up the valley. The old fighter
grows young in wears as he watches the
advance. The thrill of excitement brought
the blood to his chcek-the whisper of
danger strings every nerve. Fate has
been kind to him; sIs he has lived so shall
nc die. Would YOU have the hero OF n
score OF battles die in his bed, alone and
unseen, or in front of his foes, fighting
calamity to the last, and his death ap-
plauded even by those who slew him?
All, they have caught sight of him
The gaunt figure outlined against the
sky is familiar one. 1t has been feared
for Its strength, hated for the destruction
II has wrought. Escape is cut OF 10 the
right-to the left-in front. The back
ground Is rugged hillside, on which the
warriors are more at home than the
hunter. And 20 shouts of defiance and
eXultation ill the air a. the warriors dis
mount and advance.
Make ready nowi The drama of life is
near It's close. The life and strength
which excitement brought are beginning
to die away. Their shouts come family
to his ear; there il q blur before his
eyes: the hands which hold the rifle
ing up from the valley in its war plumes
death is creeping down from the hill
side with swift step but invisible form.
And now the shouts OF the warriors are
nearer and louder, and their rifles are
blazing death at the hunter, and he turns
his face 10 heaven and pleads:
a few last seconds OF strength and
sight and am ready to 90"
They are given him-his ewes clear
his form grows erect he Il the grand old
fighter once more. Up comes the rifle
up-up-his eye covers the sights-the
weapon is held A. firm "a n rock, and
when tho red flame leaps out a chief
filings up his arms and utters his death
CRY.
The drama has ended and the curtain
has gone down. The warriors creep
nearer and nearer. They wonder and
are mystificd- They finally reach the
rock 10 find the old man living dead, his
face upturned to the sun, who's. rising
will see him no more. There i no blood
no wound. They gather about him
like children about mystery, and they
whisper TO each other:
at was not for us to slav him. The
Great Spirit gave him his life, and the
Great Spirit took it away!'-H quad.